The Amulet of Mirkwood
by Rain Goddess
Summary: Chapter One up!!! Reviews have been answered!! Ummmm....Gandalf finds Heather but suspects something is up. They plan for tomorrow! Please, read and review!! Make suggestions or flame! Just review!!
1. Prolouge: Another Task For the Nine Cho...

The Amulet of Mirkwood  
Prologue: Another Task For the Nine Chosen Ones  
  
First, let me start off my fic by responding to a reviewer:  
  
The Mary Sue Slayer  
  
First of all, I am a new fanfiction author of Lord of the Rings so can you explain what a MS is so I won't write like it. (Sorry if that does not make sense.) Second, sorry about the Pippin issue. When I went to the movie Merry sounded like Perry and...well you get the idea. Third, I hope this prolouge explains some un-answered situations. I also went to the bookstore today and bought all three books and started reading the Fellowship of the Rings.  
  
In all honesty, I am glad you criticized my characters and gave me some information about what they should do. You are, to me, one hell of a good critic and if people can't see that, they're just stupid. (FYI, I'm not trying to suck up to you.)  
  
I'd also, if you have time, like you to continue to review my story. I can't promise everything will be perfect in your view, or anyone's view so sorry in advance.  
  
Thanks again,  
Rain Goddess  
  
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Disclaimer: I do not own anything here except Heather and the plot.  
  
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A year after the ring was made...  
  
It was late evening in Mordor. People in small villages were blowing out candles, tucking in children, and falling asleep. However, two people were walking towards the Mountains of Shadow. They were whispering among themselves.  
  
"The task you have requested is now complete," said the first one, his hands clasped behind him.  
  
"You have made the amulet?" the second one asked, looking over to his walking companion. "And no one knows?"  
  
"None, my lord," said the first.  
  
"Do we have a sacrafice?" the second asked.  
  
"I looked far and wide for a sacrafice in Mirkwood, my lord, and found you a sacrafice," the first one said.  
  
"Good, Saruman," said the second. "Now, I will finally take control of Middle Earth and reclaim my ring." He let out a low chuckle and it was soon joined by Saruman.  
  
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A little after the Lord of the Rings....  
  
Gandalf woke up with a start. He yawned and stretched and got up. He walked over to his fire-place and hung a kettle full of water near the fire. He always liked hot tea in the morning.  
  
He sat down at his small, round table and looked down at stacks of paper with literature and illustrations on charms, jewelery, and anything else one might want to read about.  
  
He was looking for something specific, however, something like the ring yet so unlike the ring. He shuffled through numerous amounts of papers, skimming the literature then looking over the illustrations.  
  
After a moment, the kettle screeched and Gandalf went to claim his well-deserved tea. He sat down, once again, placed his tea on the only spot with out papers and slowly rubbed his temples. This was going to take a while...  
  
His eyes reached the bottom of scroll and he skimmed through it quickly. After reading the first line of the last paragraph, he almost coughed up his tea. Alas, he had found what he was looking for: A descrption of the Amulet of Mirkwood.  
  
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She ran. Quickly. Silently. She knew where she was going. Her destination; Ered Mithren or to most the Grey Mountains. He couldn't find her there. No one would. She smiled but it fell. The bruise was on the left side of her face, her right shoulder and her right side on her stomach. It hurt like hell. Stinging. Burning. She fingered her necklace as she ran, one of her many pastimes and finally reached the summit of the mountains. He would never find her there...she had run away from her first love...her family...her friends...but she ran right into her destiny.  
  
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Author's Notes: Hopefully, that helps you The Mary Sue Slayer. Please, everyone, read and review. Give some suggestions please. But flamers, beware, I have a smart mouth. Anyways, all reviewers will be thanked personally in the next chapter. Thank you. 


	2. You Only Get To Make One First Impressio...

The Amulet of Mirkwood  
Chapter One: You Only Get To Make One First Impression  
  
Reviews:   
The Mary Sue Slayer:  
Ah!! (tears slides off cheek) I'm so happy. I hope to please you through-out this story and other readers as well. But, as you might have mentioned, Heather is not at all perfect. She may have good looks but her mouth will get her in trouble and she'll probably make some bad decisions.   
  
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Gandalf had packed lightly and called his snowy white horse to assist him on his journey. He hopped onto his horse with no trouble and kicked the horse's side to signal it to start moving.  
  
After a few hours, he stopped at a local spring. He dismounted his horse and brought him over to the spring. The horse drank to his full content and gave a look to Gandalf much like relief. Gandalf chuckled, and he too, took a drink, almost greedily.  
  
Afterwards, he mounted his horse and was off again. Another couple hours later, he got to his destination: Rivendell. He knew the Elves had deserted it a year ago, but still, something drawed him here.  
  
Behind him, bushes rubbed together and made a rasping noise. Gandalf sharply turned and gazed at the bush. He stared hard at it until a guilty elf stepped out.   
  
To the human eye, she looked about eight or nine, but in elve years she was almost three hundred years of age. Gandalf's face softened as the elf looked down and put her arms behind her back.  
  
"And why are you here, young one?" he asked gently.  
  
The elf looked up, not sure if she should trust this man, this wizard. But, the look in his eyes convinced her and she bravely spoke.  
  
"I'm looking for my sister," the elf said boldly.  
  
Gandalf was suddenly very interested in this particular elf. "And what is your sister's name?" he asked.  
  
"Heather," said the elf, gazing at Gandalf's horse. "Heather Finland. Sometimes people call her Moon Shadow because she loves the night and usually takes midnight walks."  
  
"And what is your name?" Gandalf asked, trying not to pressure this elf for she might runaway.  
  
"Clarithy," the elf replied.  
  
"And why, Clarithy, are you looking for your sister?" asked Gandalf.  
  
"She ran away," said Clarithy, her eyes getting hazy. "Late last night. I thought she might be here...where we used to live."  
  
Gandalf nodded his head in understandment. "Would you like to ride my horse back to where you live?" he offered. "Eh...where do you live?"  
  
Clarithy's eyes lit up in amazement when Gandalf offered her a horse ride. She was fascinated by horses and had only got to ride them once or twice.  
  
"Mirkwood," the girl replied. "Can you help me on?"  
  
Gandalf merely nodded and he looked at the horse squarely in the eye. The horse bent down and the girl gapped in amazement. Never had she seen a horse do that. The girl was hesitant to go on but soon overcame her fears and got on. Gandalf followed in persuit and the horse started to gallop.   
  
"Why, if I may ask," started Gandalf, searching for the right words. "Do you think your sister ran away?"  
  
"Well," said Clarithy, speaking more openly then she previously had. "I think it was Eldwin, her boyfriend. I think he is icky and I think he was being mean to her."  
  
Gandalf understood. No wonder she ran away. The rest of the ride there was around an hour, maybe more but Clarithy hummed songs that she had learned from friends.  
  
Gandalf, after they had arrived, made sure Clarithy was safely home, and his horse had water. He mounted his horse again and went north from Mirkwood. His horse took him to the foot of the Grey Mountains.  
  
'A likely place for a runaway,' he thought to himself and dismounted his horse and made his way to find the elf Heather.  
  
About an hours walk, he rested, for a mountain climb was hard on an old wizard. He sat down on a rock and gazed at the view.   
  
'How beautiful,' he thought.  
  
Suddenly, his nose twitched. He smelled an aroma....of smoke. He got up alertedly, his staff in his hand...just in case. He turned around slowly and saw a cave off a few yards guarded by pointy rocks.  
  
Gandalf stared at the rocks as if trying to picture how an elf, probably 21 to the human eye, climb jagged rocks. He walked over to the rocks and carefully climbed the rocks.  
  
This took him about ten minutes, maybe more. He saw the smoke clearly now and walked cautiously over to the cave. He wasn't surprised by what he found but the person inside was.  
  
She grabbed her bow and a spare arrow and aimed it at Gandalf. Her expression was surprised and confused.  
  
"I'm not going to hurt you," said Gandalf.  
  
"Someone I knew once said that," whispered the elf, keeping her bow and arrow up. "I trusted him. THAT was a mistake."  
  
Gandalf knew of whom she was talking about and nodded.  
  
"Yes," said Gandalf. "But, if I may, I'd like to introduce myself. I am Gandalf the White."  
  
Heather's eyes widened in surprise and she slowly put down her bow and arrow. Gandalf, hoping that was an ivitation to sit, sat down.  
  
"I assume you must be Heather," he started.  
  
"Who wants to know?" Heather asked defensively.  
  
"I do," said Gandalf.  
  
"I am," said Heather, looking down. "How did you know?"  
  
"I ran into your sister, Clarithy," said Gandalf, eyeing Heather playing with her necklace. "And she told me that she was searching for her sister, Heather. Tell me, why did you run away?"  
  
Heather chose to think before she spoke, something she rarely did. "For safety precautions."  
  
"Ah." Gandalf nodded and left it at that. When she wanted to tell someone, she would. "Who gave you that necklace?"  
  
Heather looked down. "My ex-boyfriend," she said and smiled sadly. "When we first went to the Rivendell Bridge together."  
  
"Listen, Heather, I need your help," said Gandalf, still eyeing her necklace. His eyes snapped back to Heather's as he continued, "I am on a quest to search for the Amulet of Mirkwood. I'd like you to assist me on my journey."  
  
"Why me?" questioned Heather.  
  
Gandalf answered carefully. "Something drew me to Rivendell. There I met your sister and now, you. So, will you assist me?"  
  
Heather thought for a long time. Gandalf was drawn to the necklace she wore on her neck, everytime she played with it.  
  
"I will," said Heather slowly, breaking Gandalf's concentration yet again. "Under one condition."  
  
"And what is that?" Gandalf said with humor in his voice.   
"I want to take my horse, Wind Catcher, with us," said Heather. "I see you have a horse, so I assume I will need one. I am not one to share."  
  
"Come then," said Gandalf with a smile. "But I cannot promise you won't have to share with anyone. Seven other people are traveling with us and there are only five horses, including mine.   
  
"And," he continued. "I do not share."  
  
"That's not fair," said Heather.  
  
"Yes, well Moon Shadow," said Gandalf, trying to read Heather's blank expression. "Life is not fair."  
  
Heather leaned back fustrated. "Well," she said. "Life is never fair in my favor."  
  
"Come now," said Gandalf. "Let's start. It's a few hours to Rivendell."  
  
Heather got up and gathered her bow and arrows. She started to follow Gandalf, but stopped.  
  
"I'll meet you there," said Heather. "I need to get Wind Catcher. I won't be more than three hours. I am a skilled rider."  
  
Gandalf stared at her for a moment and nodded. He seemed to trust this elf a little more then he planned to.  
  
"We'll have a fire started before you get there," said Gandalf, making his way over the rocks.   
  
Heather got over them like she did it everyday and helped Gandalf. "We shall see," she said with a hint of mystery in her voice and the two went their seperate ways.  
  
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Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli were making their way to Rivendell, all confused as to why Gandalf called them here.  
  
"I wish he would've told us," said Aragorn. "That way, we'll know what we're getting ourselves into."  
  
Legolas smiled and Gimli chuckled. Aragorn looked behind him to Gimli and smiled but tripped over something in his path.  
  
Aragorn picked himself up and looked at his attacker...an apple. He gave a disgusted look at the apple and put it in his pocket.  
  
They continued walking for quite a while, making small talk, and finally, they saw their destination...Rivendell. They also saw four familiar hobbits.  
  
"Frodo!" shouted Aragorn. "How are you, my friend?"  
  
The four hobbits turned their heads to the cry and smiled. They all ran over to the three travelers and gave hugs, hellos, and stories.  
  
After fifteen minutes, the seven sat down in a semi-circle and started talking very seriously about their appointed task.  
  
"What do you think our task is?" Pippin asked.  
  
"Hopefully something unlike the ring," joked Merry.  
  
"Yes," said Frodo.  
  
"It is like the ring and unlike the ring," said a voice from the forest. A few seconds later, Gandalf appeared. "Come now, we musn't draw attention to ourselves. Let's go in the back, where the forest is."  
  
"Tell us why, Gandalf," commanded Aragorn gently. "We have a right to know."  
  
"I will tell you," said Gandalf. "But we must head back into the protection of the forest."  
  
"That seems fair," said Gimli and they followed Frodo into Rivendell, past the palaces and homes and into the woods.  
  
Legolas gazed around at structures and houses.   
  
'This used to be my home,' he thought. 'But we had to leave. It feels awkward being here again.'  
  
Gandalf immediately sent Frodo and Sam into the woods to gather firewood.  
  
"It's only twilight," said Aragorn.  
  
"I'm expecting someone," said Gandalf.  
  
A few moments later, Frodo and Sam came back with three pieces of thick wood that had already fallen off a tree.  
  
Gandalf started the fire and everyone sat around him, getting warmth from the fire.  
  
"Let me see that apple," said Gimli and Aragorn tossed it to him. "Who are you expecting?"  
  
Gandalf turned to the dwarf who was looking at the apple.  
  
"Someone who will assist us on our quest," Gandalf said replied.  
  
Aragorn stood. "Why must there be another? We have accomplished much with eight."  
  
"Yes," said Gandalf agreeing with Aragorn. "But this task calls for nine people."  
  
"You haven't told us our task," said Gimli, placing the apple near him and looking at the wizard.  
  
Gandalf nodded and started to speak of the Amulet of Mirkwood.  
  
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It was probably three o' clock when Heather reached Mirkwood. Carefully, trying not to draw attention to herself, made her way to her family's stables. She could see no one was home.  
  
She quietly made her way to the stables and went inside. It was dark, and Heather could've sworn she heard a noise but the reality part of her brain disagreed.  
  
She silently made her way over to Wind Catcher's stable and opened the gate. She silently hopped on Wind Catcher and had her slowly walked outside. The door silently opened and closed but Heather heard it. She got her bow and arrow ready.  
  
"I knew you'd come back," said a voice.  
  
"Eldwin," Heather whispered.  
  
"That's right," said Eldwin. "Lower you bow."  
  
Heather kept her bow up. She was not about to let him do this to her again, but she knew he could see fear in her eyes.  
  
"LOWER YOUR BOW!" Eldwin shouted, circling around Heather threateningly.  
  
"No," Heather said softly but sternly.  
  
"You will not shoot me," said Eldwin. "You love me." He said sarcastically. He reached down to his belt and pulled out a tiny knife.  
  
"You and me," said Eldwin, glancing at Heather's left thigh. "Have a system. You do bad, I punish you. Well-" he smiled. "You have done bad." He cut her skin in a straight line on her thigh and stopped right above her knee. Bright red blood started to show.  
  
Heather winced at the pain. She viciously kicked Eldwin's hand with her cut leg, bit her lips so she would not scream in pain, and took off.   
  
When she got to the door, she leaned over Moon Shadow's shoulder and opened it. When she was out, she hurried to Rivendell, thinking of an excuse for her leg.  
  
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"The Amulet," began Gandalf. "Has a hold on all eight of us and the ninth, who will be showing up later. Sauron made an amulet for Mirkwood like a back-up in-case the ring failed.  
  
"The Amulet was made in Mirkwood, therefore, it is known as the Amulet of Mirkwood.   
  
"Although, unlike the ring, the Amulet needs one sacrafice be it man, elf, dwarf or hobbit. The sacrafice will where it until good and evil battle a mighty battle...the Battle of Fate.  
  
"Sauron will call the amulet and the amulet will lead its sacrafice to Sauron. Sauron will perform a ritual...and at the end...sacrafice the person who wears the amulet.  
  
"Once the sacrafice is killed, Sauron will have all power," Gandalf finished.  
  
"That's easy," said Sam. "Then all we have to do is find an amulet. What's it look like? Who's the sacrafice?"  
  
"No one knows what it looks like besides Saruman and Sauron," said Gandalf. "And no one knows who the sacrafice is.  
  
"All we know is that when the Amulet is ready to reveal itself, it will turn bright red...the color of blood."  
  
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Heather had finally made it to Rivendell, her leg bloody. She looked around for smoke, listened for voices and used her nose. She looked up and headed around the structure, gazing at the smoke.  
  
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"But we need another," Aragorn questioned. "Why?"  
  
"Because," said Gandalf. "Like us, she is destined to be apart of this."  
  
"She?" asked Gimli. "A woman? A female?"  
  
"Indeed," replied Gandalf.  
  
Legolas and the four hobbits watched the man and the dwarf question the wizard in silence. All Legolas knew was that he had trusted Gandalf this far and didn't expect Gandalf to let him down now.  
  
"Does she have skill?" asked Aragorn. "Gimli, toss me that apple."  
  
Gimli tossed the apple into the air and Aragorn caught it. He leaned against a tree and looked at Gandalf.  
  
"Can she win me in a sword-match? Can she use her axe in as many ways as Gimli?" he questioned, looking at the apple. "Can she shoot this apple out of my hand like my friends, Legolas?"  
  
He tossed it into the air and caught it two times.   
  
"Tell me," said Aragorn. "Can she?"  
  
When he threw the apple up, an arrow sprang from the forest and hit the apple squarely...right above Aragorn's head.  
  
Heads snapped to the arrow's shooter. An elf with long sandy strawberry-blonde hair (which was in a messy bun) and hazel eyes. She had a heart-shaped face and a beauty mark under her lips on her left side. She was riding a black horse. She was tall and slim. She had pale skin and a necklace around her neck with one pale blue jewel hanging it.  
  
She was wearing what once was a dress of maroon color. It seemed that this elf had ripped the middle which concealed her belly-button and the bottom of her dress, which once reached the floor, was to her knees.   
  
The bruise on her face was noted by everyone as well as the one on her shoulder and her side. A new mark on her left leg was stained with blood.  
  
"No," said the elf to Aragorn, wincing as she got off her horse and limped towards him. "You tell me." She pulled the arrow out of the apple and turned away.  
  
"Nice shot," Pippin said.  
  
Heather turned to him. "What do you mean?" she asked as she turned towards Aragorn and sneered. "I missed."  
  
Gandalf smiled but took notice to the elf's limping.  
  
"What happened to your thigh?" he asked.  
  
"Ummm...while I was riding Wind Catcher, my thigh struck a stray branch," she said.  
  
Legolas looked at her. He didn't believe her. The cut was even and percise and thin. He noticed her bruises too.  
  
'What happened to you?' he thought.  
  
He thought, however, she did well with a bow and arrow...almost as good as him. She was poised when she shot and he noticed she was left handed. That may come in handy...  
  
"This is Heather," said Gandalf.  
  
Heather forced a smile and walked Wind Catcher to a local stream and he gratefully lapped up water.  
  
When she returned, dinner was ready and she sat with the hobbits. She liked Pippin immediately and found him rather cute.  
  
"So you're Frodo Baggins?" asked Heather, turning to the hobbit with dark hair. "I've heard all about you. You're quite famous in Mirkwood."  
  
"You're from Mirkwood?" asked Merry.  
  
"Yes," said Heather, turning to him.  
  
"I like your horse," said Pippin.  
  
"Thank you," said Heather.  
  
After dinner, Gandalf told them to go to sleep.   
  
"At dawn, we wake and walk towards the stables where there are four horses for us," he explained. "Three of them are for your use and when we get there, we shall decide whom rides with whom. Now," he concluded. "Let's all turn in."  
  
Everyone nodded and went to make camp. Heather walked towards Wind Catcher and sat near him. He layed down near her and she leaned her head on his stomach.  
  
'What have I gotten myself into?' she thought.  
  
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Aragorn watched Heather slowly fall asleep. She had a smart mouth and a keen sense of what was going, like Legolas. She was very good with her weapon and being a woman could help them...  
  
He would have to trust her...for now...  
  
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Author's Notes: So what'd you think? Like it? Hate it? Review it!! Sorry for any spelling mistakes and/or grammar mistakes and/or personality mistakes.   
  
Until next time,  
Rain Goddess 


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